Word.ws English Dictionary

hell

/hɛl/

hell proper noun: a place of torment where some or all sinners are believed to go after death and evil spirits are believed to be. Also the alternative form of the hell or like hell.

Proper noun (1)

hell

  1. (capitalized, often) A place of torment where some or all sinners are believed to go after death and evil spirits are believed to be.
    • May you rot in hell!
    • Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 23:14
    Synonyms:
    afterlife
    Antonyms:
    heaven

Noun

hell (countable and uncountable, plural hells)

  1. (countable, excessive, figuratively) A place or situation of great suffering in life.
    • My new boss is making my job a hell.
    • I went through hell to get home today.
  2. (countable) A place for gambling.
    • Here’s five-and-twenty for you. Don’t be losing it at the hells now.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 61, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published...
    • a convenient little gambling hell for those who had grown reckless1877, William Black, Green Pastures and Piccadilly
  3. (figuratively) An extremely hot place.
    • You don’t have a snowball's chance in hell.
    • when hell freezes over
  4. (mildly, vulgar) Used as an intensifier in phrases grammatically requiring a noun.
    • She's got her arms down to her side, defiant. But just for the hell of it, she leans into him, wraps her arms around his neck, puts her head on his shoulder, and hangs on tight.1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, page 321
    • I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.
  5. (obsolete) A place into which a tailor throws shreds, or a printer discards broken type.
    • This sturdy Squire, he had, as well
      As the bold Trojan Knight, seen Hell.1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished...
  6. In certain games of chase, a place to which those who are caught are carried for detention.
  7. (colloquial, usually, with-on) Something extremely painful or harmful (to)
    • That steep staircase is hell on my knees.

Interjection

(colloquial, sometimes vulgar)

  1. (colloquial, sometimes, vulgar) Used to express discontent, unhappiness, or anger.
    • Oh, hell! I got another parking ticket.
    • O hell! what have we here?
      A carrion Death, within whose empty eye
      There is a written scroll! […]c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  2. (colloquial, idiomatic, sometimes, vulgar) Used to emphasize.
    • Hell yeah!
  3. (colloquial, sometimes, vulgar) Used to introduce an intensified statement following an understated one; nay; not only that, but.
    • Do it, or, rest assured, there will be no more Middle Eastern crisis – hell, there will be no more Middle East!

Adverb

hell (not comparable)

  1. (Australia, New Zealand, colloquial, sometimes, vulgar) Very; used to emphasize strongly.
    • That was hell good!
    • They're hell sexy.
    Synonyms:
    hella

Verb (1)

hell (third-person singular simple present hells, present participle helling, simple past and past participle helled)

  1. (colloquial, sometimes, vulgar) To make hellish; to place (someone) in hell; to make (a place) into a hell.
  2. (colloquial, sometimes, vulgar) To hurry, rush.
    • I had already lost thirteen points, all because she had to come helling in there at twelve, worrying me about that letter.1929, William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury
  3. (colloquial, intransitive, sometimes, vulgar) To move quickly and loudly; to raise hell as part of motion.
    • He was helling down the road with his radio blaring.

Verb (2)

hell (third-person singular simple present hells, present participle helling, simple past and past participle helled)

  1. (colloquial, rare, sometimes, vulgar, metal-working) To add luster to; to burnish (silver or gold).
    • To hell gold or gilt workː take two ounces of tartar, two ounces of sulfur.. and it will give it a fine luster.1770, Godfrey Smith, The Laboratory: Or, School of Arts

Verb (3)

hell (third-person singular simple present hells, present participle helling, simple past and past participle helled)

  1. (colloquial, rare, sometimes, vulgar) To pour.
    • 18th century, Josiah Relph, The Harvest; or Bashful Shepherd
      Gosh, the sickle went into me handː Down hell'd the bluid.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Hell

Hell

  1. (alternative) Alternative spelling of Hel.
  2. (alternative) Alternative form of Hela.
  3. Alternative letter-case form of hell.
    • In ancient times, Turfan was called Huochou, or Fire City, which was not inappropriate. Turfan is located in the lowest depression in Asia, just a notch above Hell.2016, Bill Porter, The Silk Road: Taking the Bus to Pakistan, Counterpoint, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 119
  4. A village in Stjørdal municipality, Trøndelag, Norway; was the administrative center of Lånke municipality, which existed until 1962.
    • Officially the Nordland Railway begins at Hell, but popularly the whole route north of Trondheim is so called.1957 August, H. A. Vallance, “By Rail to the Norwegian Arctic”, in Railway Magazine, page 571
  5. A locality in West Bay, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.
  6. A ghost town in Riverside County, California, United States.
  7. An unincorporated community in Putnam Township, Livingston County, Michigan, United States.

Also used as

hell is also the alternative form of the hell or like hell.

hell meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

hell in Hindi

abode for the condemned
नरक narak, जहन्नम jahannam, यमलोक yamlok
place of suffering in life
नरक narak, जहन्नम jahannam, यमलोक yamlok

hell in Tamil

abode for the condemned
நரகம் narakam, ஜஹன்னம் jahaṉṉam

hell in Marathi

abode for the condemned
नर्क narka

hell in Urdu

abode for the condemned
دوزَخ dozax, جَہَنَّم jahannam, نَرَک narak
place of suffering in life
دوزَخ dozax, جَہَنَّم jahannam, نَرَک narak
More languagesFewer languages
hell in Bengali
নরক norok, জাহান্নাম jahannam
hell in Telugu
నరకం narakaṁ
hell in Malayalam
നരകം narakaṁ, ജഹന്നം jahannaṁ
hell in Kannada
ನರಕ naraka
hell in Punjabi
ਨਰਕ narak, ਜਹੰਨਮ jahannam
hell in Gujarati
નરક narak, જહન્નમ jahannam
hell in Odia
ନର୍କ narka
hell in Sanskrit
नरक naraka
hell in Sinhala
නිරය niraya
hell in Assamese
নৰক norok
hell in Nepali
नरक narak
hell in Pashto
دوزخ dozax, دوږخ doẓax, دوژخ dožax, جوغاش joǧāš
hell in Tagalog
impiyerno
hell in Arabic
جَهَنَّم jahannam, جَحِيم jaḥīm, جهنّم gahannam
hell in Malay
neraka, jahanam
hell in Indonesian
neraka, jahanam
hell in Persian
جَهَنَّم jahannam, دوزَخ duzax
hell in Thai
นรก ná-rók, อบาย à-baai
hell in Vietnamese
địa ngục
hell in Myanmar
နရက် na.rak, ငရဲ nga.rai:
Dhivehi
ނަރަކަ naraka

Examples of hell in a sentence

  • callback hell; <table> hell; <div> hell
  • What the hell is wrong with you?!
  • He says he’s going home early? Like hell he is.
  • Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.1667, John Milton, Paradise Lost:
  • Heav'n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred turn'd, / Nor Hell a Fury, like a Woman ſcorn'd.1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act III, page 39:
  • Hell is a strait and dark and foul-smelling prison, an abode of demons and lost souls, filled with fire and smoke.1916, James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:

Synonyms of hell

Antonyms

Forms of hell

Proper noun
alternative capitalizedHell
Noun
pluralhells
Verb
third-person singular presenthells
present participlehelling
past participlehelled
pasthelled

Plural of hell: hells

Origin of hell

From Middle English hel, hell, helle, hælle, from Old English hel, hell, from Proto-West Germanic *hallju, from Proto-Germanic *haljō (“hell, netherworld”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to cover”). First attested in c. 725. Cognates Cognate with Yola helle (“hell”), Saterland Frisian Hälle (“hell”), West Frisian hel (“hell”), Alemannic German Hell (“hell”), Cimbrian hélla (“hell”), Dutch hel (“hell”), German Hölle (“hell”), Limburgish hel, Héll, Höll (“hell”), Luxembourgish Häll (“hell”), Vilamovian heł, hełł (“hell”), Danish helvede (“hell”), ihjel (“to death”), Faroese helviti (“hell”), Icelandic hel (“death, hell”), helvíti (“hell”), Norwegian Nynorsk hel (“death, underworld”), helvete (“hell”), Swedish helvete (“hell”), ihjäl (“to death”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰 (halja, “hell”), Estonian koll (“bugbear”), Finnish koljo (“giant; evil spirit; devil”); also Cornish keles (“to conceal, hide”), Irish ceil (“to conceal, hide; to cover up”), Welsh celu (“to conceal, hide”), Faliscan 𐌂𐌄𐌋𐌀 (cela, “tomb”), Latin cella (“hut, storeroom; barn, granary”), Greek κολεός (koleós, “vagina; sheath; scabbard; coleus”), Lithuanian šalmas (“helmet”), Belarusian шало́м (šalóm, “helmet”), Bulgarian and...

From German hellen (“to brighten, burnish”). Related to Dutch hel (“clear, bright”) and German hell (“clear, bright”).

From Middle English hellen, from Old Norse hella (“to pour”), from Proto-Germanic *halþijaną (“to incline, tip; to pour out, empty”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- (“to lean, incline”). Cognate with Icelandic hella (“to pour”), Norwegian helle (“to pour”), Swedish hälla (“to pour”). See also English hield.

Words formed from hell

Phrases with hell

142 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with hell

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about hell

What does hell mean?
Hell means a place of torment where some or all sinners are believed to go after death and evil spirits are believed to be.
What is hell in Hindi?
Hell in Hindi is नरक (narak), जहन्नम (jahannam), यमलोक (yamlok). See Hell meaning in Hindi.
How do you use hell in a sentence?
callback hell; <table> hell; <div> hell
What part of speech is hell?
Hell can be a proper noun, a noun, an interjection or an adverb.
How do you pronounce hell?
Hell is pronounced /hɛl/.

Words near hell in the dictionary

  1. helixone
  2. helixones
  3. helizitic
  4. Helkesaite
  5. Helkesaites
  6. hell
  7. hell and half of Georgia
  8. hell and Tommy
  9. hell around
  10. Hell Aviv
  11. hell bride

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hell (page history and authors); Hell (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-hell.ogg, En-uk-hell.ogg.

Cite this entry: “hell.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hell. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.